KAI

Getting Timmy out of his cell and making sure he didn't try any shenanigans was surprisingly difficult.

I say surprising because Timmy is as skinny as Steve Rogers before he got ripped. We'd even stripped him of his potions, so on paper, he should've been easy to move out of his cell and keep a hold on.

Alexander and I opened up his cell and grabbed his arms, binding them together with thick rope. Timmy tried fighting the rope, and almost got out of our grip if not for Alexander. We carefully escorted Timmy out of the room with far more caution and down the hallway to the training ground, more incidents where he tried to break out of bondage occurring.

"Can't you guys just let me rot in the cell? I'd prefer it to getting dragged on a quest against my will and being forced to help you guys," Timmy groaned.

I gave him a hard slap in the back. "Believe me, I'd love it if you stayed in your cell and just whined about how hungry your small belly is, but this so-called wise one needs you, so you're going to comply."

Alexander bobbed his head in agreement as we entered the training ground.

"Kai, I'm still not sure about bringing Timmy on this quest," Amethyst said. "It's too risky for my liking."

"We kind of have to do it, so risk or no risk, Timmy's coming with us," Alexander said. "And why wouldn't he want to go? Kai and I will keep him plenty entertained."

"With what? Your weird TV show references and terrible jokes?" Timmy spat.

"Dude, you're lucky I'm even letting you have your mouth un-taped, so don't test me," I said, shutting him up.

Geneva rapped her knuckles. "When do we arrive at Palma again?"

"I think Oman said we'd be there in fifteen minutes," Rose answered.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Timmy whined.

I rolled my eyes. "Man, I've watched way too many TV shows and movies to know how that trick works."

"It was worth a shot," Timmy muttered.

For the next fifteen minutes, me and Alexander watched over Timmy. It was very tedious, especially when he kept whining and attempting to break out of his ties, but we made it through. Oman announced that Palma was in sight not too long after, so I, along with Alexander and a tied-up Timmy, traveled to the top deck to get a good view of the island before we landed.

The island was about a hundred kilometers in length and had beautiful architecture. There were buildings and castles as well as clear waters and palm trees. There was a port near a curve of the island that had ships and docking areas, and there were a bunch of people and tourists biking around the main city.

"Dang, that's a pretty city," Alexander said.

"Eh, it's okay," Timmy said.

"Shut up, Haden!" Alexander shouted.

A few moments passed before Alexander asked, "So, what island are we supposed to land on? If we're landing in that beautiful city, I want to ride a rollercoaster and maybe eat some ice cream, then we can talk to Epimetheus. It's been way too long since I've been able to do either of those."

"Sadly, Epimetheus specified that his island was separate from the main city of Mallorca and that his island was 'far less pretty'," I said. I then pointed to a small little island near Mallorca and said, "That's his island, if I remember correctly."

Compared to the mainland, the smaller island was much less impressive and forestry covered almost every square inch of the island. It was about half the size of Mallorca and had no architecture or signs of human life.

"Wow, that's totally underwhelming," Alexander said. "Do you think there would still be a roller coaster there?"

I shook my head. "Probably not."

Alexander cursed under his breath as the three of us headed down to my cabin for landing. Oman parked the ship behind a few rocks near the shore of Epimetheus' island as Timmy, Alexander and I all got off.

"Good luck, guys," Amethyst said.

"And don't let Timmy out of your sight!" Geneva called.

We nodded before wishing them goodbye and wading through the water onto shore. As soon as we reached the shore, Alexander and I loosened Timmy's bonds.

"Now remember, any witch crap, and I'm taking your head to the deep-fryer," I warned.

Timmy nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Great," I said. "Now let's explore this island and find a phony wisdom Titan."

As we ventured inland, trotting along the littered shores, we quickly encountered our first problem.

"Quicksand!" I yelled.

The three of us tried struggling our way out, but we only found out that it got us further into the sand. The sand was now up to our chests, our lower bodies completely submerged in the sand.

"Try leaning backwards!" I suggested, trying to relax my body as I slowly tilted on my back.

Alexander and Timmy did as I said, the two of them getting out in about a minute, me following ten seconds later.

"Who has quicksand on their island?" Timmy asked, wiping himself off.

I shrugged, similarly shaking the sand off my clothes. "Probably someone who doesn't want people checking out their island. Let's keep going."

The three of us progressed forward, and officially entered the forest, which again, took up almost the entirety of the island. The trees were thick and compact, with branches and logs scattered across the hard soil ground. Jagged rocks were also quite plentiful on the island, with there being one in sight almost every time we moved into a different region. There was no wildlife on the island, but I still had a strange feeling that we were being watched.

We were going under a relatively thin portion of trees when I noticed a slender wire that spanned the length between two trees and yelled, "Alexander, tripwire!"

Alexander was able to react just in time as his foot narrowly missed the wire that was strung between the two trees.

Out of curiosity, I poked the wire with my sword. Out of the ground came a series of metallic spikes, each sharp enough to puncture a toaster.

"Good catch, Kai," Alexander said, patting me on the back.

We went around the spikes, this time a lot more careful to avoid traps, and continued through the long and winding forest.

The more we progressed, the tenser I got. The feeling I had had earlier about someone watching us had only grown as my paranoia and anxiety had increased to the max via a series of incidents where I swear I heard the rustling of trees as swift movements were audible up above.

"Guys, I don't think we're alone," I said, voicing my concerns.

As if waiting on cue, a group of clay statue-looking monsters jumped at us from the thick bushes of the trees. They had six arms, were about seven feet-tall, and wore nothing but white loincloths.

"Ah! Naked.. Grievous babies!" Alexander shouted.

He tried bashing one with his shield, but it stayed firm and absorbed the attack, taking essentially no damage. It then hit Alexander with one of its arms, pushing him onto the ground.

I slashed one down with Scorcher, but one of them then grabbed my arm with three of its own. Another of the clay monsters grabbed my arm, and within three seconds, both of my arms were being held by clay statues.

They started squeezing with lots of power as I felt my biceps were about to explode. In a fit of flames, I burst out of their rough grip and the monsters were turned to dust. After taking a look to see the damage done to my arms, I looked to see how Timmy and Alexander were faring.

Alexander wasn't doing so hot, as he struggled to keep the clay monsters away from him. As I darted forward to assist him, Timmy threw a potion that blasted open on impact with the ground, all of the monsters attacking Alexander exploding in a hot mess of goo. He then turned around and did the same to the rest of the monsters, all of the monsters slain in a short period of time.

"Um, I thought you said you took away his potions," I told Alexander.

"I did," Alexander replied.

Timmy cracked a smile. "Yeah, I took them while you guys were bickering with Amethyst."

Alexander and I raised our weapons up, sure that Timmy would try it on us.

"Relax," Timmy said. "I don't like my chances against both of you."

When Alexander and I kept our weapons at the ready, Timmy said, "If it makes you guys feel better, you can take my potions."

I warily did so as I pocketed the many distinctly-colored vials Timmy had stolen earlier.

"How did you even do that?" Alexander asked. "Like, how'd you beat the monsters that quick?"

"Well, I just threw my goo potions at their groins," Timmy explained. "Those creatures are called gegeines, and they have very sensitive groins, to the point where any powerful form of magic or whatnot can slay one in just a single blow."

Alexander scowled. "I wish I could just turn to dust when someone hits me in the balls."

We ventured onward, approaching an even thicker portion of trees. Vines were all over the ground, and constantly wrapped around our feet and made us stumble as we journeyed through the forest.

We were able to move past the thickly-forested, vine-filled area when we heard footsteps behind us, which started slow but became quick as the sounds of cracked branches got closer and closer.

I instinctively turned around and jump-kicked whatever it was that had created the noise. My leg had connected with the face of the enemy, and was soon followed by a grunt of pain and a hard thud on the ground.

I twisted around quickly and, on the floor with a bloody nose was a GHOST member, with neck-length blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and freckles covering her face. She was wearing the classic outfit of a GHOST member and seemed to be carrying no weapons.

"Timmy?" the girl asked.

"Samantha?" Timmy asked.

"What are you doing with these two?" 'Samantha' asked.

"Um…" Timmy droned on.

I decided to take over for him. "He's helping us get Epimetheus' help."

Samantha shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you would betray your own friends like this."

Timmy went dead silent, averting his eyes to the side as he couldn't bear to look at his injured friend.

"Shut up and get over it, " Alexander said. "Now, are there any of your other GHOST friends on this island?"

Samantha bit her lip. "No, there isn't."

"She's lying," I declared, not giving in to her charade. "Be ready."

Out of the trees, a bunch of armed and geared up GHOST members came out. Standing amongst them were three of the most annoying people in the world: Olivia, Ivan, and the orange-haired kid from Maine, Aldric.

"I've indulged this trash long enough," Olivia said. "Take them down."